Absolutely Compulsively Readable

Absolutely Maybe, by Lisa Yee, I mean. I couldn't put it down and a week later I still have the characters voices running through my head. Maybe whose name is short for Maybelline (I know, it's awful but her mother is a former beauty queen who runs a charm school--wouldn't you choose Maybe instead of Maybelline too?) needs to get away from home, from her mother's negative comments, from her soon to be step-father's wandering hands. So when one of her two best friends gets ready to leave Florida to go to film school, Maybe comes along for the ride. Oh, and she brings her other best friend, Ted along too. Ted, Hollywood and Maybe make it to LA but that's when things get complicated. Hollywood starts calling himself Daniel now that he's at USC. Ted starts working for an aging, reclusive movie star. And Maybe can't find her real father although she's sure he must be somewhere in LA.

I loved Ted's non-stop chatter, his is voice is the one I still hear. I loved Maybe's growing self-confidence once she steps out of her mother's shadow. And I loved that it would have been so easy to turn this into a romance between Maybe and Hollywood but they remain friends. Unexpected, like a lot of this book. Oh, and I loved the food descriptions--I dare you to read this and not want to run out to the taco truck for a fresh taco or two.

For people who liked Jordan Sonneblick's Notes From a Midnight Driver; Sarah Dessen's The Truth About Forever; Liz Gallagher's The Opposite of Invisible; Paul Acampora's Defining Dulcie.